Investigating Neuroimaging and Cognitive Correlates of the Glutathione Antioxidant System in Mild Vascular Cognitive Impairment
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Mild vascular cognitive impairment (mVCI) is the prodromal stage of vascular dementia and its pathogenesis is less defined in literature. This thesis explored the associations between antioxidant glutathione (GSH), white matter damage, and cognitive deficits. Patients with mVCI (n=23) were recruited from Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s cardiac rehabilitation program. Increased GSH in the occipital lobe as measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was associated with greater periventricular white matter hyperintensities in the occipital lobe as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (β=0.629, p=0.029). Conversely, increased plasma glutathione peroxidase was associated with greater deficits in verbal memory (β=-0.587, p=0.010), while increased GSH in the anterior cingulate cortex demonstrated a trending association with greater deficits in verbal memory (β=-0.564, p=0.056). This research suggests that GSH dysregulation may be associated with white matter damage, although findings were limited to the occipital lobe, and the peripheral GSH system may be associated with memory deficits in mVCI.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Mathura Thiyagarajah
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3152753412